The BAR 002 was the car with which the

British American Racing British American Racing (BAR) was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell Racing, Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year. Subsequently, they formed a partnership wit ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

team competed in the

2000 Formula One season The 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 12 March and ended on 22 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher became Ferrari's first World Drivers' Champion in 21 y ...

. It was driven by the 1997 World Champion

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...

, and Brazilian

Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Luiz Zonta (; born March 23, 1976) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 10 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for RCM Motorsport. Early career Born in ...

, both drivers in their second year with the team.

Design

The BAR 002 was the inaugural season of a

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

engine supply, a partnership which would eventually lead to the team being bought out by the Japanese company for the 2006 season. The car had its first shakedown with the new engine at

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 British Grand ...

in December 1999, where Jacques Villeneuve completed 34 laps. Due to a focus on the reliability of the car for 2000, visually the car looked very similar to the

BAR 01 The BAR 01 (also known as BAR PR01) was the car with which the British American Racing Formula One team competed in the 1999 Formula One season, its inaugural year in the series after purchasing Tyrrell. It was driven by Jacques Villeneuve, ...

of the previous season. The BAR 002 was launched at the

Queen Elizabeth II Centre The Queen Elizabeth II Centre is a government-owned conference facility located in the City of Westminster, London, close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Central Hall Westminster and Parliament Square. it was opened by Queen Eli ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, on 24 January, 2000. Alongside full time drivers Villeneuve and Zonta,

Darren Manning Darren Manning (born 30 April 1975) is a British motor racing driver who has raced in the IRL IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Career history Early career Manning was born in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire ...

was signed as test driver and

Patrick Lemarié Patrick Lemarié is a French auto racing driver born February 6, 1968, in Paris. He currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving the No. 5 car for Academy Motorsport in the EuroNASCAR PRO class having previously competed for FEED ...

continued as a development driver for the season.

Season overview

Following the failure of the 1999 season where BAR scored no points; both Villeneuve and Zonta scored points in the first race at

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Fourth place would be the cars best finish of the season, Villeneuve achieving this across a further three Grand Prix in France, Austria and the United States of America. Zonta scored points at a total of three Grand Prix in 2000. During the season in August, it was announced Ricardo Zonta would be replaced by

Olivier Panis Olivier Jean Denis Marie Panis (; born 2 September 1966) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Panis won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix with Équipe Ligier, Ligier. Panis competed in Formula One for Équipe Ligier, ...

for the 2001 season. Zonta later criticising the atmosphere in the team in 2000. The team finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, with 20 points. This tally was equal to the Benetton team, but

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Bo ...

's podium finishes ensured that the Anglo-Italian team stayed ahead. In 2012, chassis 020-05, which scored points in the hands of Zonta at the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

, was offered for sale at auction in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. It had been acquired by

Brawn GP Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racing F1 T ...

when purchasing the assets of the former Honda F1 Team.

Livery

This was the first time the BAR had been seen in

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...

livery, stepping away from the split of the

555 Year 555 ( DLV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 555 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

branding season prior. BAR used the Lucky Strike logos, except at the British, French and United States Grands Prix due to a ban on tobacco advertising in those countries.

Complete Formula One results

( key)

References

BAR Formula One cars 2000 Formula One season cars Reynard Motorsport vehicles {{F1-stub